Hi all. I need some help with a non starting vehicle. Its a 1992 Civic ESI. Basically, the car has stood untouched for some 2 years or so. I have just been given it and would like to put it back on the road. Having freed the brakes off and cleaned most things up I am attempting to get it started.

The reason it was taken off the road was due to a distributor failure. I have replaced the distributor. I have also replaced the battery. The engine turns over well when cranked and there is a good spark at all four spark plugs. There is pressurised fuel at the injector rail. Now, as a precaution, just in case the fuel has 'gone off' I've drained the old fuel out and put new in.

I don't think the injectors are opening as the spark plugs dont seem to be very wet when removed. I have noticed that there seems to be LED'S on the injector connectors. Should these be lit up when cranking etc? Or am I mistaken? Anyway, they dont light up at all.

What should be my next step? I am not familliar with Honda's but generally ok with mechanics in general.

 

Well, no matter what, otto sezs you have to have AIR, FUEL, SPARK.. air is easy unless clogged, so you have each spark plug firing? if so, must be the fuel delivery system. Do you have a pressure gauge? I would make sure the pump is working, with it sitting for 2 years, perhaps the Fuel pump is bad or corroded.. etc... There is a series of steps in the manual to determine from the fuel pump all the way to the injectors what could be wrong... there are several electricals involved also. Is the ECU throwing any codes.??

 

Never seen the LED thing but if you have sparks, the ECU should also be driving the injectors. You could unplug an injector and connect a small 12v light bulb to the plug and it should flash when you crank the engine.

The injectors may be clogged up or stuck. Take them off the car and soak the manifold end in carb cleaner. Then put carb cleaner in the fuel rail end and very carefully use a plastic tool press the nozzle pin in slightly to open the valve, the cleaner should drain thru.

 

I'm thinking that the fault is no electrical supply to the injectors at the minute. I do not have any 'specialist' test equipment so I don't know if the ECU is throwing any codes. I have tried checking voltage at an injector with a multimeter when cranking the engine and I'm not seeing any voltage. Howerver, maybe the signal is too 'fast' for a multimeter so I'm going to check with a small wattage bulb.

I have got a solenoid tester that lights up in the presence of a magnetic field. For example, it will light up if put near a relay that has a coil energised. I have also held this against all injectors while cranking and it doesn't light up. I'll get back to you. Thanks for the info so far.

Where is the fuel ecu located (or is it part of the engine ecu?)

Edit - forgot to mention, fuel pump is running when ignition switched on for a few seconds. Also, I do not have a fuel pressure gauge but if I undo the fuel banjo bolt slightly at the fuel rail, there is plenty of fuel spraying out under pressure so I assume the pump is ok.

 

Ok, rigged up a low wattage test lamp and connected it into each injector connector. All injectors are clearly getting voltage (bulb lights up approx 2 times per second when cranking). So, it can only be the injectors stuck shut. I'll remove them and see what I find.

 

Right then, its a bit odd now. I removed the injectors and all four seemed to be ok. I pushed carefully on the pin on the end and it went in (a very small amount, about 1/16") and came out again. I re-fitted them and wondered if the spark plugs were breaking down under compression so I fitted a new set. No luck.

So, I have a spark at all four spark plugs, my injectors have an electrical supply, the injectors are not jammed, I have pressureised fuel at the injector rail, the engine seems to be cranking fine, there is a new battery on it and still it wont start!!

Any further ideas?

 

Now some people here say it is impossible, but I have personally done this: engaged the distributor 180 degrees out of time. When I tried to do it again it was clear that something was wrong, but with some force by tightening the bolts down you can be 180 degrees out of time. So double check that. I would suggest removing the upper timing cover so you can also check if the timing belt is in time. With the engine set to TDC1 as if you were installing the timing belt, the rotor of the distributor should point to the #1 wire on the cap.

 

I am aware that the distributor drive tangs are not 'central' to the drive shaft. When I installed the distributor, No1 cyl was at tdc on the firing stroke (valves closed). The rotor arm was pointing at the lead that goes to No1 cyl. I did experiment when it wouldn't start by trying to fit the distributor shaft 180 about. It was clear that the drive lugs were not correctly lined up (this is when I noticed the lugs were not 'central' to the shaft and explained why the drive collar had a pin and could 'float'.). I turned the shaft a further 180 degrees and the lugs mated perfectly with the camshaft. Therefore I am fairly confident that the ignition timing is ok.

 

Just re-checked and everything seems fine but still no start!!! I have clear airway, spark at every plug, pressurised fuel at the injector raill, clear injectors and a new battery fitted. Any suggestions?

 

Check for codes in the ECU. You can do this without special tools by jumpering the test plug and watching the check engine light flash. Run a compression test. Maybe there is something wrong with the valves. Take a sample from the fuel rail and if it looks off color or doesn't smell like fresh petrol, drain the tank again. They really don't like stale gas.